Clarinet.Woodwinds.Com | Case Summaries, 2007 Term of the U.S. Supreme Court

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Case Summaries for the '07 season of the Supreme Court of the United States. Newest cases first.

Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta

NY v. Lopez Torres

Knight v. Commissioner

John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. U.S.

CSX Transportation v. Georgia State Board of Equalization

Board of Ed. of N.Y. v. Tom F.

Allen v. Siebert

Case Summaries

Select a Case Summary, or read through all the summaries starting with the oldest.

All cases are equal. Some cases, are however, more equal than others. Sadly, the only new cases that will be added here after 10|07|2008 are those cases that are the most interesting to CLARINET Esq.

This is the portion of this website that attempts to make the most important federal court cases in the country understandable.

The simple truth is, almost every Supreme Court decision has a formula: parties/litigants, facts, law, an exposition that explains the conclusion, and the conclusion. One of the Justices who voted for the winner writes the decision. There's also (increasingly often) dissenting opinions, where the Justices who voted for the loser gripe about how the majority have made a mistake,and next time they'll get it right. Ultimately, the formula is king; simple, easy for law clerks to write, easy for lawyers to read, and steeped in 200 years of legal history.

But, even for lawyers, the formula can be mind bogglingly dull to read. CLARINET.WOODWINDS.COM will break it down into its component parts: Who is suing who? What happened? How did these loser*ahem* litigants make it to the Supreme Court? Who won? What's the big idea?

Even after all that, there's still the other big questions: What's the quotable quote from this opinion? What's the biggest word that the Court manages to use? What are those dissenters complaining about this time? What's the life lesson? All these questions and more.

Note!

These case summaries only cover the "slip opinions" that the Supreme Court makes avaiable after it has had briefing on the legal issues, and do not cover the other opinions and orders the Court publishes.